Sienna Whaley

Julius Nagy
CHE141
12/6/18
Energy Source Paper

Solar energy is one of the several renewable sources of energy available today. The suns

rays react with special cells in a solar panel that create electricity. Commercial solar farms can be

made as well as systems for individual houses.

As far as costs go, solar energy can be expensive. I found on one solar companies’ site

that the average cost of a 4kw system is $15,000 and an 8kw system can go for $29,000 (Sunrun

2018). For commercial systems, I found that a 200kw system could go for around $430,000

(“Commercial Solar Cost & Financing”).

Solar energy production is a fairly pollutant free energy source. Using solar energy itself

creates no greenhouse gases, but the manufacturing process of making the panels creates some

greenhouse gases. Not only that, some hazardous chemicals are used in order to create the

special cells within the solar panels. These chemicals can be harmful to the environment if not

disposed of correctly. The panels used for energy production can last for a few decades but will

eventually wear out. This could be a potential landfill contributor. There is a possibility to

recycle these panels due to several parts being recyclable. A specialty recycling facility would be

needed to go through all the parts of the panel to ensure that all is sorted into appropriate

recycling processes (metal, plastic etc.).

In my opinion, I feel like solar energy should be used more in the world. There is plenty of sun to

go around and its source, the sun, is infinite. Very little greenhouse gases are created and there
are ways to reduce the waste from old panels and hazardous chemicals. Although the cost for

solar energy systems is defiantly high, with the growing demand for renewable energy sources, it

is possible that in the near future the prices for solar systems may go down.

Solar energy seems like a really promising renewable energy source for the future. Plants

use the sun for their energy, why can’t we too?

 Works cited

“Commercial Solar Cost & Financing.” Lets Go Solar,

www.letsgosolar.com/solar-panels/commercial-solar-cost-financing/.

Sunrun. “Cost of Solar | Solar Panel Cost | Solar System Installation.” Sunrun, 15 Oct. 2018,

www.sunrun.com/solar-lease/cost-of-solar.